As the ongoing arugments for and against this strike continue, just a few comments from me as food for thought before I get ready to welcome in the New Year which hopefully will be happier and more lucrative for us all!!
Having been in the company for over 20 years I have seen a lot of changes and have really seen VS grow from being a 2 aircraft 2 route company to a major player in the field. We used to have amazing benefits and perks years ago but as the company grew many of these were taken away and/or cut back. I feel like so many others that we are majorly undervalued and underpayed, but Sir RB is a clever ole dude and didn't get to where he is today by being outwitted by his staff.
I voted NO to all the pay offers as on my salary, it still didn't bring it into line with what I should be earning at my age and with my length of service, I also voted YES to strike as I truly believed with an overwhelming majority, the company would take it very seriously and start to re negotitate, but they haven't, they're digging in their heels and have withdrawn the original offer which we can now say goodbye to. They're also showing that they simply aint gonna give to our demands and will fight to the end!!
I would love to see the crew fight back and win this argument against the company but I really feel that there will only be one loser in the long term, the crew. I believe that after the strikes in Jan, IF they go ahead, that when crew start seeing the deductions in their pay packets and they are being rostered all the really low paid unpopular trips such as Los/Del/Mco/Lax/Nbo/Las etc etc, they will start to realise that they really are not going to win. Those who are waiting to be called for an interview for promotion, forget it, you'll be kept in your rank for a long ole time and those who helped the company through this time, will sail through. They'll also be the ones spending their time in Mauritius and other popular desitinations whilst you do 5 unpopular trips a month and with regards to having time off over Xmas/New year in the future, just don't expect too much!!
The union can help with many things and will look after you should the company try to 'screw' you, but with what I've mentioned above, they can't do a thing, everything is perfectly justifiable, your performance not up to scratch, it's just the way the rostering system works etc etc and should you ever be found with a piece of hand towel in your bag from the toilets on the aircraft, well you can use it to wrap your P45 up in!!
I know it sounds like i'm not being supportive, but i'm actually being realistic, I need to keep my job, I enjoy it and don't want it to turn into a nightmare for me, i like going to nice places as well as the less popular ones, I like being at home for Xmas and NYE sometimes and most importantly I need every penny that I earn, as little as it may be! I cannot afford to start having money deducted from me for 4 days a month to start and who knows what next!
In a company like BA, where union membership runs at almost 98% of whom 96% of those support a strike, the average age of crew and length of service is MUCH higher than VS and after all that they still ended up with nothing after their strike! Having said that, what do you honestly think is going to happen when Virgin have a half hearted attempt at striking backed by a confused and weak union and half their members who will probably ring in sick anyway instead of supporting the action? It's going to be a reall blooming mess and it will really not get us what we want. Let's think again, accept what they've already offered and when it's time to negotiate again, the company will realise that they cannot walk over us any longer! They'll listen and will never want to get to this stage again!
If you enjoy your jobs, don't throw it away, make your decision very very carefully and I speak as someone who has put up with this salary for a very long time!! Things HAVE improved in recent years all be it very slowly and that was without the union's help! Now we have an ever growing union, we can achieve so much more, but let's do it slowly and with caution, not by jumping in with both feet first just becase we can!!
Happy New Year everyone, have fun and be careful and make the right choice!